In order to conduct water, fuel or gas over large distances, pipelines that span immense lengths are installed. Occasionally, due to corrosion or other different wearing processes, small cracks might occur in the pipes, resulting in a leakage of the fluid that flows through the pipe. Since the pressure in such pipes may reach up to 100 at., the fluid is rapidly lost into the soil.
A leakage is usually discovered by a sharp pressure-drop, or by the recognition of a stain over the leakage location, indicating that a large amount of the fluid has already been lost. Besides the environment-harming aspect, such leakages may cause the loss of thousands of dollars per hour.
The repair of underground pipelines poses a series of complicated technological problems considering the relevant factors, mainly, difficult accessibility to the damaged part of the pipelines if welding or complete replacement thereof needs to be applied. This is particularly true when considering pipelines that are thousand of kilometers long or pipelines that lay underneath buildings and roads.
Also due to the high pressure prevailing in the pipeline, the use of simple adhesives and other common sealing agents had to be ruled-out.
The closest prior art known to applicants is Russian Patent No. 2063273 (Appln. No. 92007181/26 filed Nov. 23, 1992), describing a method of in-situ repair (namely from the inside of the pipe), by injecting specific chemical substances from both sides of the damaged location.
It is the prime object of the present invention to provide a more efficient method of in-situ repair of pipelines.
It is a further object of the invention that the actual repair process be completed instantly, reducing to a minimum the time period during which the flow through the pipeline must be discontinued.
It is a still further object of the invention to offer one or more sealing agents formulations especially suitable for the purposes the invention herein disclosed.